# Tell me about being an air traffic controller, please. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626 "2005-08-18T18:21:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/1 "2005-08-18T18:21:38Z")
Are there any air traffic controllers on the board? I’m about halfway through my degree programme now, and need to seriously start thinking about a career. Air traffic controller sounds like an interesting job (is it?). Firstly, how do you become an ATC? As previously stated, I’m halfway through a degree now (Computer Science and AI). What qualifications are needed? Must you speak a foreign language or is English the _lingua franca_ of aviation? Secondly, what is the pay like? I imagine that being a high stress job that the pay is pretty good. Is it? Thirdly, what are the hours like? I imagine that since air traffic doesn’t come to a hault after dark some night shifts would be required, are they? Fourthly, are certain people more suited to the job than others? Do you have to pass an aptitude test or somesuch? A few people have commented on how laid back I am and the degree programme I’m on requires a very logical way of thinking. Am I suited at all to the job? Anything else you want to add (not specifically ATCs, anyone who knows anything else may add anything, too) would be great. I’m specifically talking about the UK, but I suppose the job is very similar in every other country on Earth too. Thanks a lot. (Is this in the right forum?) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/2 "2005-08-18T18:24:15Z")
I forgot to add that I have a bit of a northern English accent too. Are certain accents preferred over other ones? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/3 "2005-08-18T18:59:09Z")
[The Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers](http://www.gatco.org/) might be a good place to start asking, but [The National Air Traffic System](http://natscareers.co.uk/indexfs.asp?id=2005818) has more specifics. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/4 "2005-08-18T19:24:33Z")
Generally speaking, there is a competitive exam for ATC traineeship positions. The trainee position lasts 1-2 years, then you graduate to an ATC position. Provided you both succeed in the competitive exam and during your traineeship. There is no upward mobility. Once you are ATC, that’s it. And yes, the pay is good. I don’t believe there are formal qualifications required. It’s one of those areas where people tend to follow the path of friends and relatives. The content of the initial competitive exam and/or application is what you would want to look into. The hours are unusual but not extreme. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/5 "2005-08-18T19:38:32Z")
I can tell you about failing to become an ATC… ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/6 "2005-08-18T19:40:54Z")
Oh, you can’t leave a straight line like that and not follow up, **FordPrefect!** ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/7 "2005-08-18T19:42:16Z")
FordPrefect, did you take the exam? What subjects/skills/areas did it cover? ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/8 "2005-08-19T15:34:25Z")
I took the written exam and the oral exam and did well in both. It was a long time ago and what I remember most were things like longitudinal/latitudinal/vertical axies, and calculating aircraft vectors on a sheet of paper drawn to look like an ATC radar screen. I am sure there was more but I don’t recall. Where I failed was in the second part of the oral exam, they handed me more radar sheets to calculate, like there were in the written exam, but this time I could not use paper to do the math on. This was death for me, I am not great at calculating in my head, and especially when you only have 30 seconds to answer each question. The questions would show 2 or more aircraft at various altitudes and headings and you had to figure out which aircraft would have an incident (be less than 10 miles apart on the horizontal plane and less than 1000 (I think) feet vertically. I don’t recall if knowing when the incident would occur was part of the exercise, or if I had to state which aircraft should turn to avoid the incident. The worst part is that I went back after the six month post-failure waiting period, redid the tests and failed the second part of the oral again. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/9 "2005-08-19T19:41:16Z")
Ahh, great. Thanks all. Those links were great ElvisL1ves. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/10 "2005-08-20T01:10:51Z")
You also need a very, very good memory and the ability to handle problems in three dimensions in your head. And you have to be able to put up with those arrogant SOB’s called pilots. 😛 By the way, English is the supposedly universal language of aviation, meaning pilots flying internationally need to know a base vocabulary of terms to enable cross-lingual communication. How well that holds up in reality… well, that varies from place to place. But having English as your native tongue is certainly an advantage. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/12 "2025-07-18T11:59:39Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Firstly, how do you become an ATC? We have your request. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/13 "2025-07-24T15:01:38Z")
> [@Sevastopol](#): > > There is no upward mobility. Once you are ATC, that’s it. There are supervisory positions. Isn’t that upward mobility? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/14 "2025-07-24T16:35:43Z")
I hate zombie ATCs. They mumble too much. So, did the OP ever become an ATC? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/15 "2025-07-24T16:45:53Z")
His last post was almost ten years ago, so…? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/16 "2025-07-24T17:19:49Z")
Cornfielded spammer to blame for the bump? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/17 "2025-07-25T17:54:17Z")
I have a nephew who is an ATC at Pearson. Whenever I would fly through there I would text him on the way so he’d, yknow, take extra care! Haha! He probably has 15+ yrs experience now. He had a pilot license before he had a drivers license! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/18 "2025-07-25T21:10:08Z")
I worked with an engineer that was a former ATC. He said he had to quit when he found himself sitting up in bed, giving air traffic directions in his sleep. A very stressful job! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/19 "2025-07-25T21:20:31Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Cornfielded spammer to blame for the bump? Yep. (post must be at least 5 chars grrrr) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-being-an-air-traffic-controller-please/317626/20 "2025-07-25T21:21:47Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > A very stressful job! No doubt made all the more stressful because, just like a police officer, you have to remain calm and cool even when boiling mad due to having to deal with some fucking moron! Except, apparently, for controllers working the airports around New York, like JFK, LGA, and EWR, who are apparently imbued with NYC culture. 😉 Especially JFK, with so many foreign aircraft. I’ve heard them totally lose their cool when dealing with (e.g.) Asian pilots with limited comprehension of English-language concepts like “left” and “right”!